Separate Lives
by sunsetstrip2010
Summary: Well, I heard a Phil Collins song tonight and was inspired. Sometime in the midst of my stories did this happen.


Separate Lives

"Hey."

"Hey."

So typical.

Ashley has nothing else to say but 'Hey'.

_Love leads to isolation…_

"Where've you been?"

"Honey, I just got back from the show. I've been in a limo, a hallway, and now a hotel room.

_You called me from the room in your hotel…  
All full of romance for something that you've done…  
And telling me how sorry you were, leaving so soon…  
And that you miss me sometimes…_

_When you're alone in your room…  
Do I feel lonely too? _

"You sound tired."

"Baby, I am never too tired to talk to you. Honey, how are you?"

"I'm just perfect, Ash."

_You have no right to ask me how I feel…  
You have no right to speak to me so kind…  
We can't go on just holding on to time…  
Now that we're living separate lives…_

"I sense sarcasm in that response."

"You're incredibly intuitive, my sweet."

"I'm coming home. Tomorrow. That's the end of this."

"No, you're NOT. You have like five cities left. You're not coming home."

"I'm nearly coming, right now baby, just thinking about you."

"Shut up, Ashley."

Silence across the line…

_Well I held on to let you go…  
And if you lost your love for me, well you never let it show…  
There was no way to compromise…  
So now we're living…  
Separate lives…_

"I miss you so much."

"Yeah, I bet you do."

"I do. How can you doubt that?"

"I doubt everything these days. Every time I crawl into bed, alone, I doubt it all, Ash. I am proud of you. I am. But you are a rock star, love. I signed up for this. I just wasn't prepared for the other end of the bargain."

"Spencer, baby, there is no one else. There has been nothing else. You have to be kidding me with this. I love you so much."

"Just stop. Please, just stop."

"No, I won't stop. Ever. Until you start believing me. That I would never betray you. Baby…"

_Ooh, it's so typical, love leads to isolation…  
So you build that wall…  
Yes, you build that wall…  
And you make it stronger…_

"Honey, I am coming home. Now. No more of this. None of this means anything without you. Baby…"

"Don't come home, Ashley. Just don't. It doesn't matter. How I feel. How stupid I am. It doesn't matter…" 

"It matters more than anything in the world. Baby, what's wrong? What's going on with you? Baby, tell me how you feel?"

_Well you have no right to ask me how I feel…  
You have no right to speak to me so kind…  
Some day I might find myself looking in your eyes…  
But for now, we'll go on living separate lives…  
Yes for now, we'll go on living separate lives…  
Separate lives…_

…

Spencer felt the bed shift ever so slightly. She pried her eyes open to glance at the clock.

It was just after five in the morning.

She rubbed her eyes gently.

And then she felt it.

Those hands.

Those fingers.

Then…

Those lips.

"Ashley?"

"Who else would it be?"

"What are you…"

"Shhh…please baby. Just don't talk…I am here. And I don't want to be anywhere else."

Spencer started to sit up in bed, until she felt the most gentlest of nudges push her back against her pillow. And then she felt the warmest body press down fully on top of her own.

"Spence, I love you so much."

Spencer signed and allowed the girl on top of her to capture her lips in a searing kiss that left her breathless but wanting more.

Spencer groaned when she felt the loss of contact from the girl above her, but forced herself to open her eyes. She also forced them to focus in the darkness of their room before the beautiful brunette came into full view.

"I have every right, baby, to ask you how you feel. And I have every right to come home, in the early light of the morning, and cancel shows, just to see your face."

Spencer started to open her mouth in protest, but Ashley placed on finger gently to her lips.

"I will not go on living my life separate from you, baby."

She nodded her head before continuing.

"So you have two options. One, I take a long needed hiatus from this bullshit."

Ashley felt a surge of warmth go through her body as she felt the blonde below her chuckle and begin to lightly caress her back.

"Or two, you quit that bullshit job at Fox Photos and come with me when I go back out on tour…"

Ashley placed both hands on either side of Spencer's face and stared hard down at her girlfriend.

"So…what's it gonna be?"

…

The tour bus came to a grinding halt in front of Caesars's Palace. Ashley forced her head up from between her girlfriend's thighs and peered out the window onto the strip. She giggled softly at the throaty groan she was met with as a result of her actions.

"Ah now…don't you worry…"

She pulled the blonde up into her arms and began to scramble for clothing as she heard the doors of the bus being thrust open.

"We are in the luckiest city in the world, and honey, I promise you, you're getting more than lucky as soon as we get up to our suite."

…

Ashley would have held true to her ultimatum.

She would have stayed.

But she really wanted to go.

But not without her…

And as she and Spencer lay down in the huge bed in the suite overlooking the strip, and continued to make the love that had started on the tour bus from Salt Lake, she could not help but breathe a sigh of relief.

She had her music.

She had her girl.

She had them both.

And if her luck never changed, she'd continue to have them both at the same time.

For the rest of her life…

A/N: Thanks, Phil Collins, for popping up on my I Pod and inspiring this little one shot.


End file.
